JLR - hydrogen fuel cell prototype
 

Jaguar Land Rover are to begin tests later this year on a hydrogen fuel cell prototype based on their new Defender.

They say hydrogen fuel cells “provide high energy density and rapid refuelling and minimal loss of range in high or low temperatures.”

Should be interesting.

You can help to save the planet by drinking the exhaust. It (H) costs around £10 per Kgm., roughly the same as Diesel fuel.
As it is the most abundant thing in the universe, how long before it is free at the point of use, like breathing.

I suppose it all boils down to the cost of them at the end of the day! at present the FCEV Toyota Mirai costs around the £60000 mark.


I've been reading freight want to go the hydrogen route as the amount/weight of batteries needed to transport class 1 lorries will have too much impact on nett weight they will be able to carry.

Madrid want to take 1000 diesel taxis off the roads of the Spanish capital & replace them with 1000 Toyota Mirai's :eek:
Paris has announced a similar large-scale project with hydrogen taxis in the French capital, where diesel vehicles are to be replaced by 600 Toyota Mirai. :eek:


The other fly in the ointment is what "colour" of Hydrogen will be manufactured?



https://i2.wp.com/evcentral.com.au/w...90%2C205&ssl=1

Advantages as fuel:

Fewer suicides in domestic garages, so lower council tax due to fewer clear-up services, and fewer police standing around who could be reassigned to do what they do best. Whatever that is.

More ballooning, leading to lower noise pollution.

Ancient Crafts rejuvenated for the basket weaving (see above) fraternity leading to revival of country industry resulting in contented peasantry.

Fewer airports in built up areas, all you need is a field and a big Bunsen burner, fuelled by, er, H + O2, both readily available and without planning permission needed for factories, and big lorries burning, er, diesel.

Resulting exhaust from the launch field burner could be used to irrigate the same field for organic crops, saving the planet.

Win win.

Hyundai have had the fuel cell ix35 for a few years now and also the newer NEXO

Some good point made in this post.

Yes, capital costs will be higher in the short term but should be better once volume kicks in.

Very good points regarding length of time to refuel (same as petrol/diesel liquids). Especially the HGV one whereby toting x-cwt of batteries about is a cost even if charging times are not (charged battery packs for swap with the discharged one's).

Personally, I've always thought hydrogen was a better bet than electric.

Kev

We drove up from Cornwall yesterday and the wife needed a comfort brake so we pulled into the services, there was a row of cars on charge points ( 4 Teslas and 4 others and 3 cars waiting for them to finish). Even if we had needed fuel we would have been back on the motorway in a lot less time that the owners of these very expensive Milk floats.

I can see there being a 2 or maybe more options on new cars in 15 years time, Electric, Hydrogen are the obvious options but maybe synthetic fuel will be an option?

Vehicles with a prolonged charge time and a short battery life will never be a sensible choice if you ever go on longer journeys. Having to stop every 4 hours for an hour or so is never going to work and then dispose of the car after 7 or 8 years because the battery is fooked.

Know what you're getting at Steve, but being a bit pedantic just "this once" one could point out that taking a break after four hours is no bad thing and is the advice offered by various agencies. ;)

Kev

Porsche backed a south American factory to make carbon neutral synthetic fuels which would let them keep manufacturing their ICE vehicles but the cost of a gallon to manufacture was extremely expensive $38/gallon to produce before taxes, :eek: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/09...fuel-at-scale/

I would agree on the break every 4 hours but having to sit there for over an hour and potentially longer if no charge points are available could turn a long journey into a nightmare journey. I know when I visit a friend in Aberdeen it is usually an 8 or 9 hour drive, I usually spilt it with a 30 min stop about half way and it feels about right, having to sit at the halfway point for over an hour would mean we would get there a lot later or have to leave a lot earlier as potentially we would have to stop twice with an electric car especially if done at night or conditions that put a higher demand on the battery. Having spoken to owners of electric car they find that systems like A/C, Heating or wet weather can shorten the range by as much as 30%

Interesting about the cost of synthetic petrol but I suspect once it is produced in volume this would come down but maybe if the amount of cars using the proper stuff are reduced it would come down like what happened in lock down 1.

There will be a lot of classic cars still needing petrol in some form and I think it will still be available for many more years even if restricted or only at some time of the day from selected outlets, demand will control this.